Serendipity
by Cooptown
Summary: In a room full of profilers, she's unsure why she's the only one to notice. So is he.  Sometimes, he learns, it's the people you trust the least that can offer the most support.  NO PAIRING, character study. Corazon outtake.


**I actually wrote this a few weeks ago, before _Corazon_ even came out.**

**I just wanted to play around with Reid's mystery story and Ashley Seaver. I like her.**

**I hope everyone likes this. (:**

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_Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one. - EB White_

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_**Serendipity**_

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**He felt her staring, and it was beginning to grate on his already sheared nerves to a ridiculous extent. Prying his fingers from his temple and forcing bleary eyes open to meet her startled blue ones, he tried to keep his mouth from twisting into a half-pained, half-irritated grimace.

"What?" He finally dared, unable to squash the snapping quality in his voice.

Across the table, Ashley flinched and ducked her head, staring at the file in front of her with renewed interest. "I... sorry," she murmured after a moment, tucking an errant blonde strand behind her ear, "you're just... acting funny."

"How could you know that?" He mumbled in reply, dragging a hand across his face and feeling a silent slash of regret sear across his chest when he sees the hurt in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he offered after a moment, "I just have a headache."

Ashley looked up again with interest, and he noticed the sympathy weaving over her lean face. He found it frustrating.

"I have tylenol," she replied, and he knows she's just eager to help; she wants to prove that she's worth _something_.

He almost felt bad, and though he knew the pills wouldn't help, he gave her the best smile he could muster. It was small and somewhat of a scowl, but she took the hint and fished the pills from her bag, passing them over and watching with a furrowed brow as he takes two without water.

They were alone in the round table room; Reid had escaped into the previously quiet office to get away from the loud, noisy mess of the bullpen- which Morgan was contributing to greatly in his banter with Garcia. It had taken everything Reid had not to tear his best friends head off before he'd been able to slink off undetected.

It hadn't taken long for Seaver to wander in and find him; she'd wrongly assumed that he'd like some company, and was now seated at the table with him, fiddling through a case file and sipping a glass of water. It was one of the odd quirks he'd noticed about her- she'd been drinking water. It was as though she didn't feel she had a right to use the coffee maker.

"Nobody hates you, you know," he said suddenly, unsure why he was suddenly feeling so generous after a serious bout of unhappy, wraith-like snappiness. "You seem very uncomfortable here."

She didn't answer, and once again she refused to meet his eyes. "Dr. Reid... are you okay?"

He seemed thrown by the change in subject, and his decidedly moist hazel eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you ask? It's a headache, but it'll pass."

She tilted her head fractionally, biting her lip and looking nervous and persistent at the same time. "You've been having a few of them lately, haven't you...? I may not have known you long, but I can see that they're bothering you. My aunt suffered from chronic headaches."

He watched her with calculating eyes, allowing her to continue her impromptu profile that she's rapidly spouting as she watches him.

"I knew when I first met you, and also because I've been told, that you're a very good person. You were the one who was kindest to me... but for the past few days you've been short-tempered and irritable. If _I_ can see that you're hurting... why can't they?"

That startled him, and it's a worrying thought that lodged deep under his sternum and shot outward like rays of cold, chilling water, refusing to move. She noticed how he's changed. She's noticed and acted upon on it where his trusted team-mates have not. He stared at her, struggling to maintain a neutral expression while she did nothing to hide her concerned frown and creased brow.

"Why do you care?" he finally asked, unconsciously sliding a hand up to his temple again.

She seemed stung by the question. "As I said, I haven't known you long, Dr. Reid... but I like you, and seeing you in pain is... worrisome. You should get checked out."

She moved to stand, making her way to the door. She pauses when she passes him, unsure on whether she should touch his shoulder, nod, or simply smile. Instead, she tilts her chin down to avoid his watchful gaze as she saunters from the room, not closing the door behind her.

He felt another weight, then, as though he's chased away a potential friend. Standing with a wince, he pressed both hands to his temples when the room spins in a sickening, blinding blur. He took a moment to catch his breath before he left the round-table room. He abandoned his stack of unfinished reports on the table.

He found her again in the break room, startled to see her fixing herself a cup of coffee. She looked up when he entered, and she gestured to the cup.

"Want some?" she asks daringly, moving to get another mug from the cabinet and stopping when he shakes his head.

"Don't feel like it," he replied simply, and she was oddly relieved to see a sheen of resignation on his angled face. "I'm going to go home and get some sleep."

"Good," Ashley replied boldly, "you need it. If you don't feel better soon... do something about it. If I've noticed, they've noticed too." She tilted her head in the direction of the bullpen, and Reid squashed the bitter upset he's feeling at the thought of _them_.

They are not something he wants to deal with.

"Tell Hotch I went home, would you?" He asked quietly, moving toward the door. "And Ashley- thank you."

She watched him stride off with stiff shoulders, and she felt herself relax remotely in well-disguised relief. She's not sure why she feels connected with him, but he was the one to befriend her the quickest. Turning away, she took her coffee cup and strode back into the bullpen with a new purpose, to make herself comfortable.

She knows she'll be here for a while.

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**Yeah, so I understand that nobody likes Ashley, but I do~**

**I don't want/hope for any romance between her and Reid, but I can see them being good friends.**

**This is PURE speculation - no flames, please.**


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